I.B. Singer on Yiddish, via A.Word.A.Day


	I.B. Singer on Yiddish, via A.Word.A.Day

enbar

3-24-2008 3:04 PM

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tags:

language, judaism, post:tumblr(clip)

enbar says:

I.B. Singer is a great writer; here's an excerpt from his Nobel Prize acceptance speech, plus, as a bonus, the definition of the word "schnorrer."

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<div style="margin: 12px 0px; font-family: arial; color: #333333; background: #ffffff; border: solid 4px #e5e5e5; width: 100%; clear: left;"><div class="CM_CTB_Content_Wrap" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;background-color: #ffffff;"><div style="border-bottom: solid 1px #dcdcdc; white-space: nowrap; margin-bottom: 8px; background-color: #eeeeee ;background-image: url(http://clipmarks.com/images/source-bg.gif); background-repeat: repeat-x; height: 24px; line-height: 24px; vertical-align: middle; padding-bottom: 4px; color: #666666; font-size: 10px;" ><a href="http://clipmarks.com/clip-to-blog/" title="see clips that are hot right now"><img src="http://content.clipmarks.com/blog_embed/7775e480-8f2b-487a-ad18-1e10f7f8d2ba/C4A2EFCE-BEDA-4ED5-B1D1-531CC6787D85/" alt="" width="19" height="19" border="0" style="vertical-align: middle; margin: 0px 4px; display: inline; border: none; float:none;" /></a>clipped from <a title="http://wordsmith.org/words/schnorrer.html" href="http://wordsmith.org/words/schnorrer.html" style="font-size: 11px;">wordsmith.org</a></div><blockquote style="text-align: left; padding: 0px 8px; margin: 4px 0px 8px 0px; background: transparent; border: none;" cite="http://wordsmith.org/words/schnorrer.html"><P>
Here's what Yiddish writer Isaac Bashevis Singer had to say about the
language in his 1978 Nobel Prize acceptance speech:
</P></blockquote><div style="height: 2px; font-size: 2px; background: #dcdcdc; border-bottom: solid 1px #f5f5f5; margin: 2px 4px;"></div><blockquote style="text-align: left; padding: 0px 8px; margin: 4px 0px 8px 0px; background: transparent; border: none;" cite="http://wordsmith.org/words/schnorrer.html"><I>
  "Yiddish language - a language of exile, without a land, without
   frontiers, not supported by any government, a language which possesses
   no words for weapons, ammunition, military exercises, war tactics ...
There is a quiet humor in Yiddish and a gratitude for every day of life,
   every crumb of success, each encounter of love. The Yiddish mentality is
   not haughty. It does not take victory for granted. It does not demand
   and command but it muddles through, sneaks by, smuggles itself amidst
   the powers of destruction, knowing somewhere that God's plan for
   Creation is still at the very beginning ...
In a figurative way, Yiddish is the wise and humble language of us all,
   the idiom of frightened and hopeful Humanity."
</I></blockquote><div style="height: 2px; font-size: 2px; background: #dcdcdc; border-bottom: solid 1px #f5f5f5; margin: 2px 4px;"></div><blockquote style="text-align: left; padding: 0px 8px; margin: 4px 0px 8px 0px; background: transparent; border: none;" cite="http://wordsmith.org/words/schnorrer.html"><P>   
schnorrer (SHNOR-uhr) noun
</P></blockquote><div style="height: 2px; font-size: 2px; background: #dcdcdc; border-bottom: solid 1px #f5f5f5; margin: 2px 4px;"></div><blockquote style="text-align: left; padding: 0px 8px; margin: 4px 0px 8px 0px; background: transparent; border: none;" cite="http://wordsmith.org/words/schnorrer.html"><P>   
   One who habitually takes advantage of others' generosity,
   often through an air of entitlement.
</P></blockquote></div><div style="margin: 0px 6px 6px 4px;"><table style="font-size: 11px;border-spacing: 0px;padding: 0px;" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="100%"><tr><td style="background:transparent;border-width:0px;padding:0px;">&nbsp;</td><td align="right" style="background:transparent;border-width:0px;padding:0px;width:107px" width="107"><a href="http://clipmarks.com/share/C4A2EFCE-BEDA-4ED5-B1D1-531CC6787D85/blog/" title="blog or email this clip"><img src="http://content8.clipmarks.com/images/c2b-foot.png" border="0" alt="blog it" width="107" height="17" style="border-width:0px;padding:0px;margin:0px;" /></a></td></tr></table></div></div>

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